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Bruenor Battlehammer
}} | rules = 3rd | dob = 1120 | alignment = Neutral good | source = Silver Marches | page = 77 }} Bruenor Battlehammer was the dwarven adoptive father of Catti-brie and Wulfgar, King of Mithral Hall, friend of Drizzt and Regis, and crafter of Aegis-fang. He was a member of the Companions of the Hall and of the Council of 12 Peers. Equipment Bruenor straps a single-bladed axe and a shield with a foaming mug symbol to his back. He used to wear a one-horned helmet. but it was lost in the battle for Shallows. Drizzt, thinking that Bruenor had died, took the one horned helm and placed it on a stick in the cave he used as shelter as a way to bring him back from being the Hunter. Background Childhood Bruenor was run out of Mithral Hall when he was just a non-bearded boy. His clan took up residence in Icewind Dale close to Ten-Towns and supplied the towns with well-made Dwarven weapons and armor. When Bruenor came of age he took his place as leader of the clan. Adventures After the battle with Akar Kessel and the Crystal Shard or Crenshinibon, Bruenor tricked Drizzt into helping in the search for Mithral Hall. The Companions of the Hall thought Bruenor was dead when they saw him ride a shadow dragon to the death of the dragon and supposed death of Bruenor. The only thing that kept him alive was Icingdeath (a magical scimitar that protects the user from fire), that Drizzt had lost in a battle with Artemis Entreri. Over the next few weeks, Bruenor worked his way up from the lowest points of Mithral Hall, covering his beard and hair in ash to disguise its color from the Duergar that now resided in Mithral Hall, and killing any who found him out. Eventually, he escaped by climbing up a chimney shaft—during which he was attacked by a giant spider. Though he was bitten, Bruenor managed to kill the spider and find his way up to a vent to the outside. Finally overcome by the poison, Bruenor lost consciousness. He awoke to discover himself in the care of Alustriel Silverhand, ruler of Silverymoon. The lady had divined Bruenor's predicament and moved in to help. With her aid—and that of the Harpells of Longsaddle—Bruenor was able to give chase to Drizzt and Wulfgar, who were, in turn, pursuing Entreri. Covering the hundreds of miles in a flaming chariot (replicated version of Alustriel's own) provided by Alustriel, Bruenor and Catti-brie arrived in time to aid Drizzt and Wulfgar's ship in a battle with pirates. Afterward, the reunited Companions went to Calimport, where they tangled with Artemis Entreri, rescued Regis, and caused the downfall of a dominant thieves' guild in the city. They went back to their home in the North, and spent the winter gathering up forces to take back Mithral Hall—Bruenor's long-held dream. Bruenor and his armies drove out the gray dwarves, and Bruenor was set up as King of Mithral Hall, with a couple of thousand settlers from other dwarven kingdoms swearing their allegiance to him. The peace was short-lived, though, as a small party of drow, seeking Drizzt, caused the apparent death of Wulfgar. In the skirmishes during this, Bruenor lost an eye (which the priest Cordio Muffinhead amongst the other clerics of Mithral Hall later regenerate for him). The death of his adoptive son sent Bruenor into a profound depression. When Drizzt left to go to Menzoberranzan to settle accounts with his people, Catti-brie saw Bruenor as being too engrossed in his own grief to a useful companion when she chased Drizzt. She was not however unaided in the ever so dark tunnels of the Lower Underdark, and met with Alustriel who provided her with a magical circlet that lit the darkest areas (through the eyes of the user) with magical star/moonlight. When she and Drizzt came back, weeks later, their news of a planned drow war on Mithral Hall forced Bruenor out of his depression. With aid from neighboring kingdoms and people, Bruenor and his kingdom survived the assault upon Mithral Hall. Bruenor and his friends even set themselves to seeking out the leaders of the drow army—the Matron Mothers of the most powerful houses. In the battle upon their meeting, Bruenor, with much difficulty, killed Yvonnel Baenre (Matron Mother of the First House of Menzoberranzan, ending her millennium-long rule of the drow city. After the battle, they found Gandalug Battlehammer—the founder of Mithral Hall and Bruenor's ancestor—who had been Matron Baenre's magically-held prisoner for almost two millenia. The discovery of another legitimate king allowed Bruenor to abdicate to his ancestor and pursue his own ambitions in Icewind Dale and the mines his clan had made there. During Drizzt's and Catti-Brie's six-year absence from his side, Bruenor became closer friends with Regis. When the balor Errtu gained the Crystal Shard, Bruenor joined his friends in defeating the tanar'ri. The fight was turned to their favor, however, when Wulfgar rejoined them. As it turned out, Wulfgar had not been killed six years before—rather, he had been taken to the court of the drow goddess Lolth, who traded him to Errtu in exchange for Errtu's services to her. Errtu then spent years torturing Wulfgar and seeking a chance to cause Drizzt to release Errtu's banishment. After Drizzt accidentally released the banishment, Errtu brought Wulfgar back to the Prime Material Plane to witness his friends' destruction. The arrival of Aegis-fang and the out-loud speaking of its name returned it to Wulfgar's waiting hands behind a sheet of ice which in turn allowed the friends to destroy the demon, again banishing it for a hundred years. Bruenor's time in Icewind Dale was short-lived as Gandalug died a few years after resuming his indenture upon the throne. As Bruenor, with the escort of battleragers under the command of Thibbledorf Pwent that had come to collect him, trekked back to Mithral Hall they came across two survivors of a dwarven caravan. Events thereafter led them to the Shallows, which Bruenor sought to defend from Obould's horde, led by his son Urlgen. Bruenor took such damage that he was only alive due to the continued efforts of the dwarven priests. This continued well into the next book of The Hunter's Blades trilogy, until Regis managed to lure him back to consciousness with the enchanted ruby. Bruenor's reputation increased with his return from (as most dwarves think) Moradin's halls, he led the dwarves in a nearly suicidal charge to reclaim the river Surbrin. Due to the events detailed within The Orc King he eventually made peace with Obould, albeit with skepticism, for the greater good. For many years he remained king of the hall, grumbling about his orcish colleague all the while, though he grudgingly acknowledged the efforts Obould made. Bruenor died in 1462 DR due to injuries he sustained while defending Gauntlgrym from a Pit Fiend summoned by the Lich Valindra. Before he died he successfully saved Gauntlgrym from destruction by sealing the Primordial of fire. Instead of going to the Halls of Moradin, he joins Regis, Wulfgar and Cattie-Brie in paradise. Notes References * de:Bruenor Heldenhammer Category:Clan Battlehammer Category:Councilors Category:Members of the Council of 12 Peers Category:Dwarves Category:Shield dwarves Category:13th level fighters Category:Inhabitants of Icewind Dale Category:Inhabitants of Mithral Hall Category:Inhabitants of neutral good alignment Category:Kings Category:Members of the Companions of the Hall Category:Fighters Category:Inhabitants of the Silver Marches